High-resolution, full color images available online
Search, browse, read, and print yearbook pages
View college, high school, and military yearbooks
Browse our digital annual library spanning centuries
Support the schools in our program by subscribing
Privacy, as we do not track users or sell information
Page 29 text:
“
talk about the good old days when men were men, and shower room gossip was shower room gossip. Having completed my inspection of the high school, I started down Church Street. Turning the corner, I bumped into a tall, handsome person, resplendent in a white duck uniform covered with gold braid. Beneath the visor of the stylish captain’s hat, smiled Eddy Bessom, who had finally succeeded in fulfilling his child- hood ambition to blow a whistle on a salmon boat. After I had told him of my quest, he agreed to help me. As we were both hungry, we dropped into a lunch room, run by Ruth Goddard and Thelma Thompson. Naturally I was overjoyed to meet two more of my classmates. For some years, Bessom told me, these two girls had operated a whole chain of restaurants under the name of Thelma and Ruth’s Vitamin A, B, and D, Hot Dog Kitchen. After a hearty meal, we went to see Mary Bowles, the librarian. Once the footlights had fascinated Mary, who at that time had promised to rival Gertrude Lawrence. A year ago, while playing the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet, the staging had collapsed. Now while she was recuperating from her fall, she had consented to become again the center of attraction in the library. Mary was apparently glad to see us and talked eagerly about our school days. She also showed us the best-seller among the recent crime novels. It was Eleanor Palladino’s T’he Secret, based upon the life of the great private detective, Jeanne Ehrlich, who with the aid of her assistant, George Fasulo, had solved the crime ot the decade, the brutal murder of two of Earle Horton’s assistants, who were trying to protect the plans of an anti-aircraft gun invented by Earle. I was proud to learn that Earle had put to use for our national defense his knowledge of trigonometric functions. After saying good-bye to Eddie, who had decided to stay and read Virginia Shaw’s book on ‘“The Wonders of Cape Cod,” I started back to The Tavern. On the way I bought a paper, not The Mansfield News, but The Mansfield Globe, edited by Gladys Schofield. Glancing through it, I discovered that several members of our class filled important positions on the staff. Meg Reilly, the female Walter Winchell, had a snappy article on the front page ridiculing Mayor James Green for opposing a low cigarette tax. Although Meg’s pen dripped acid, Green’s picture showed him grinning cheerfully, apparently quite unconcerned. On an inside page, Yolanda Turinese had acolumn on ‘“‘New Coiffures” and Ermina Mason one entitled ‘Lady, Be Lovely.”’ In the rotogravure was a picture of a beautiful girl advertising cigarettes. At once, I recognized Catherine Wondergem. On the travel page was a picture of Rose Oliveira, who had just returned from Europe after giving lessons in the noble art of jitterbugging. With a squeal of brakes, a car stopped beside me. I glanced up and saw Art McKay scowling fiercely. “What a pal Bolton is!” he growled. ‘He certainly exemplifies the true spirit of comradeship. Believe it or not, Nielsen, in a smooth sophisticated, superior manner, he absolutely denied my humble petition. I perforce must present myself at the police station, without benefit of a friend and I shall probably end up before Judge Hays of the district court.” I smiled to myself a little proudly, for I was sure no other taxi driver in the world possessed such a vocabulary. He misinterpreted my smile as he exclaimed, “I assure you, mon ami, that your ill-concealed amusement is highly offensive. A parking ticket may seem a trivial matter to you, but in a little town like this it will ruin my reputation.” “Don’t complain about small towns,’ I warned him. ‘Why, do you know that some of the most famous men and women in the world today studied with you and me in the old high school, here in Mansfield?” Enthusiastically I began to tell him how the various members of ’41 had distinguished themselves. McKay listened eagerly, a proud smile on his face. Only later did I discover that in his joy he had absent-mindedly torn his parking ticket to shreds. 25
”
Page 28 text:
“
As the picture drew to a close, I hurried to my hotel to wake up my continually sleeping photographer, Edgar Vernon. Together we headed for the airport. Approaching the plane, we almost bumped into Berriard Gegenheimer, our pilot, who asked why we were returning to the States. I explained that I was going to Mansfield to look over the once familiar town, and that Chum was to spend his vacation at the Downy Mattress Company, testing the comfort of its famous product. As I sat down in one of the seats of the plane, I almost crushed a wiry, tanned little fellow whom I immediately recognized as Stanley Bourne. He told me that he had just returned from a trip to Borneo, where he had been teaching the natives the manly art of self-defense. While relating his adventures, Stan dozed off and not wanti ng to deprive him of his sleep, I quietly asked the stewardess, Mary ‘Tessier, for a book or magazine to read. She obliged by giving me a copy of the new periodical Freedom edited by Ruth Brown. Some of the articles were very interesting, such as Gertrude Graham’s “Quiet,” written while the author was all alone on a desert island, and a short essay on television by Virginia Richardson, who had succeeded in transposing a few stage shows into television playlets. A regular feature of the magazine was Shirley La Har’s page on “Feminine Attire.’’ Shirley had become famous by her efforts to shift the world fashion center from Par is to Mansfield. After getting off the plane and checking my baggage, I met Eddy Rockwood, manager of the Boston office of the Associated Press. To my delight he was able to give me some information about several of my classmates. I learned that Frances Navitsky had started a new aquarium in Boston and that Helen Manson had contributed several specimens of deep sea fish to Frances’s project. Eddy was quite disturbed because his favorite secretary, Catherine Faria, while visiting the aquarium, had fallen into a tank of electric eels and was now in the hospital recovering from shock. After saying good-bye to Eddy, I climbed aboard the express for Mansfield. As I arrived after dark, I decided to spend the night at The Tavern and get up early the next morning to tour the town. Our local hotel had changed management again. This time it had been bought by Margaret Moore, who had transformed it into an old-fashioned inn. The next morning I rose, went out, and hailed a taxi driven by Arthur McKay. Art was quite sulky because he had just received a ticket for illegal parking from Chief of Police, Walther Jellinek, and was on his way to the Junior Chamber of Commerce to see if Bartlett Bolton, the chairman, could fix it up. Nevertheless, [I persuaded him to drive me around first. From sheer force of habit, we headed for the high school. McKay, however, instead of proceeding down North Main, turned up Church Street. Imagine my delight when on approaching Memorial Park, I spied a magnificent building, which turned out to be the new Mansfield High School. McKay told me that it had been designed by Richard Phelps, a noted architect, and that the interior had been decorated by Claudine Scaldini, who had indeed made it the school beautiful. Knowing that McKay was anxious to get his ticket fixed, I said good-bye to him and walked towards the impressive main entrance. In the principal’s office, | came upon James Ingram, pouring over one of George Bearcovitch’s ‘“Super-simplified Dictionaries.’ Surprised to see me, he abandoned his research and proceeded to show me about the school. In the completely outfitted lab, Paul Klenk and his technician, Eleanor Agnew, were trying to invent an explosive, which Ingram feared would some day demolish the building. I reassured him as well as I could, but in my heart I thought he had reason to worry. I remembered that Paul always did like to experiment with mysterious concoctions, sometimes with amazing results. Several other members of ’41 were on the high school faculty. Ruth Sanford was teaching stenography in a huge glass-enclosed room resembling in every detail a modern office. In the gym, Pat Sullivan was trying to put some young high school girls through their paces, while out in the athletic field, Coach Albert Scatolini was moaning over his green material at baseball practice. Scat and I had a long 24
Are you trying to find old school friends, old classmates, fellow servicemen or shipmates? Do you want to see past girlfriends or boyfriends? Relive homecoming, prom, graduation, and other moments on campus captured in yearbook pictures. Revisit your fraternity or sorority and see familiar places. See members of old school clubs and relive old times. Start your search today!
Looking for old family members and relatives? Do you want to find pictures of parents or grandparents when they were in school? Want to find out what hairstyle was popular in the 1920s? E-Yearbook.com has a wealth of genealogy information spanning over a century for many schools with full text search. Use our online Genealogy Resource to uncover history quickly!
Are you planning a reunion and need assistance? E-Yearbook.com can help you with scanning and providing access to yearbook images for promotional materials and activities. We can provide you with an electronic version of your yearbook that can assist you with reunion planning. E-Yearbook.com will also publish the yearbook images online for people to share and enjoy.
